Privacy Policy

Centre for the Review of Academic Books (CRAB) Last updated: [22 July 2026]

1. Who we are

The Centre for the Review of Academic Books ("CRAB", "the Centre", "we", "us") is an independent, not-for-profit academic initiative founded by Byron Hyde. CRAB is not currently incorporated as a company, charity, or other legal entity. For the purposes of UK data protection law, the data controller responsible for your personal data is:

Byron Hyde, trading as the Centre for the Review of Academic Books Contact: b.hyde@bangor.ac.uk

Our Operations Manager, Racha Hyde (info@rachahyde.com), processes some data on the Centre's behalf as part of running the programmes — see Section 4.

2. What personal data we collect

From the application form:

First name and last name
Institutional email address
Areas of academic interest
Suggested book titles
Programme choice (Standard or Expanded)
Whether you are requesting a fee waiver
Your preferred start date
Confirmation that you accept these terms

If you apply for a fee waiver: any supporting documents you send us by email, such as a letter from your supervisor or head of department, and a personal statement about your financial circumstances.

During the programme: correspondence, meeting notes, drafts, and other materials exchanged with your mentor and the Operations Manager as you work through the review process.

Website usage data: our website is hosted on Wix, which may automatically collect standard technical data (such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited) for security and analytics purposes. This is governed by Wix's own privacy policy, not this notice.

For the moment, we do not knowingly collect payment card details directly — see our Refund Policy and the payment instructions we send you separately for how fees are handled.

3. How we use your data, and our legal basis

Assessing your application and deciding whether to offer you a place: steps taken at your request prior to a contract (Art. 6(1)(b))

Pairing you with a mentor and running the programme once you've accepted a place: performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b))

Communicating with you about scheduling, drafts, and journal submission: performance of a contract / legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(b)/(f))

Assessing fee waiver requests: legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — administering a fair, needs-based process

Keeping records for institutional partners, where your participation is covered by a specific institutional agreement: legitimate interests, or performance of that agreement

Publishing your name, review, or a testimonial on our website or social media: your separate, specific consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — we will always ask before publishing anything beyond confirming the review exists

Basic financial record-keeping for fees received: legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c))

We do not use your data for automated decision-making, and we do not sell it or use it for marketing by third parties.

4. Who we share your data with

Mentors and the Operations Manager, so they can deliver the programme.
Academic journal editors, as part of the normal academic process of submitting your review, this typically includes your name and institutional affiliation.
Partner institutions, only where your participation is covered by a specific institutional agreement (see our Projects page).
Wix.com Ltd, as the platform that hosts our website and application form.
We do not share your data with anyone else, and never sell it.

5. International transfers

Application and programme records: kept for up to 12 months after your participation ends, so we can maintain accurate publication records and respond to any queries about the review afterwards.
Unsuccessful applications: kept for up to 12 months, then deleted.
Fee waiver supporting documents (supervisor letters, personal statements): kept only as long as needed to make and briefly audit the decision — normally no more than 12 months — then deleted. Access is limited to the Director and Operations Manager.

7. Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

access the personal data we hold about you;
have inaccurate data corrected;
ask us to delete your data, in some circumstances;
restrict or object to our processing, in some circumstances;
receive your data in a portable format;
withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent (this won't affect anything already published with your agreement);
complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113, if you're unhappy with how we've handled your data.

To exercise any of these rights, contact b.hyde@bangor.ac.uk.

8. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your data, including limiting access to those who need it to run the programme, and not asking for or storing payment card details ourselves.

9. Children

CRAB's programmes are aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers, and are not directed at children under 18. If we become aware that we've collected data from a child without appropriate consent, we will delete it.

10. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time. The current version will always be available on this page, with the date it was last updated shown above.

11. Contact

Questions or concerns about this notice, or about how your data is handled, should be sent to Byron Hyde, Director, at b.hyde@bangor.ac.uk.